Spellbound
by CertainPhantomAuthor
Summary: Harry Potter wasn't the only student attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The experiences of Hufflepuff Alice Bishop, though not as exciting as the Boy Who Lived's, is the center of our story. This is obviously an AU story, so any rude criticisms will be ultimately ignored. We're here to have fun, so kick back, relax, and enjoy


**Chapter One: Setting the Stage**

(2,758 Words)

Alice pushes herself off of the couch.

"Must've fallen asleep here after I came back," The brunette mumbles.

She is sitting in front of a blazing fireplace in her common room. She yawns and stretches her arms above her head. The hearth burned brightly with the atmosphere around it quiet. Her steady breathing seemed to echo across the room. Judging by the rooms emptiness, it must have been quite late into the night. Alice moves towards the large doors, walking into the dormitories.

Alice sits on her bed, her mind wandering back to the events of that day. Potions class was a bore, DADA was stressful as usual, Charms didn't introduce anything new, and Divination was as perplexing as ever. She met with her friend earlier, which was nice considering they hardly speak to each other anymore.

"Ali? What are you doing still up?" Liz asks.

"Oh, I fell asleep in the Common Room," Alice says, playing with her hair. "I know, I know, it's pretty dumb."

"Not at all," Liz shrugs. "I'll just go back to sleep, goodnight, Ali."

"Night, Lizzie," Alice says. She lays down on her pillow, a small smile gracing her lips.

The next morning was mostly a blur. Alice did her normal morning routine and went to all of her classes. Nothing was very different about that day save for the Slytherin vs. Hufflepuff match. Cedric had asked her earlier if she wanted to play that day, which she responded to with a slight shrug and an indefinite answer. She's on the team, but she never really played, Cedric told her that it was all for good reason, however.

"Ali! Just on time," Liz calls. She pulls Alice to the side. "I heard that Cedric asked if you were going to play today?"

"Well, I might be? It's really up to him," Alice says. "I'm okay whether or not I play, really."

"But Alice you are amazing at quidditch! You should be a regular on the team!"

"I wouldn't call myself amazing," Alice shrugs. "I'm decent at best."

"Alice, I've seen you play! You are amazing!" Liz insists. "Plus, I may or may not of tipped to Cedric that you play a mean beater."

"Oh geez, Eliza, what did you tell him?"

"That's all! I know about your little crush on him, Ali," Liz taunts. "This is your chance!"

"God, I really don't want it to be," Alice says. "I'm certain that I'm going to mess up horribly."

"Aww, you won't mess up that bad," Liz continues.

"Whatever you say-"

"Oi, Chadwick! Get over here!" Draco shouts. Alice flinches. "C'mon, Chad, we've got a game to win!"

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," The black-haired boy says, following Draco out into the halls.

"Oh my God, that's Chadwick Fletcher," Liz gasps. "He's so pretty."

"Does he really let Malfoy talk to him like that?" Alice asks.

"He is a Malfoy, his family's really strong and scary."

"Well, I guess that makes sense," Alice says. "I wouldn't want to get caught up in Malfoy business"

"Yeah, same here," Liz frowns.

"Yeah, I doubt he'd even look twice at Hufflepuffs like us," Alice says, brushing past Draco's shoulder.

"Watch where your going!" Draco shouts. Alice looks behind her.

"I… I'm sorry," She stammers. Draco leans on his leg and smirks proudly.

"If it isn't the mudblood Hufflepuff," He snarks. Alice rubs her arms and looks down. "Look at 'er, Chad, isn't she pitiful?" Draco ridicules.

"Couldn't help but agree," Chad says. Alice glances around at the staring faces before she makes a swift retreat, Liz following her right after.

"Run, mudblood, run!" Draco laughs.

"Let's just go already," Chad says. Draco ceased laughing and turned to him.

"Really, Chad? Let's have a good laugh here!" He says. Chad sighs.

"We're going to be late for the game, Malfoy," Chad says, nudging his head down the hallway.

"Alright, alright, I'm going," Draco says, continuing his way to the arena. Chad follows close behind.

Alice decided to take the long way to the arena, as long as she avoided Draco and Chadwick she was fine. She looked behind her and saw Cedric walking up to her. She waved hello and he smiled.

"Hey, Ali! So turns out we're having you play today," He says. "Our usual beater had to help Professor Sprout with something."

"Oh, alrighty then," Alice says, giving him a thumbs up. "I was just on my way there."

"Great, I'll walk with you," Cedric says. Alice nods. "I've never seen you play before."

"Yeah, I usually don't because Cap says he doesn't want me to," Alice says. "I'm not sure if it's because I'm horrid at quidditch or if it's for anything else," She frowns.

"I'm sure you're not that bad at quidditch," Cedric says. "Eliza wouldn't stop talking about how great you were," He jokes.

"Well it is Eliza, she's my friend, it's her job to support me," Alice jokes. Cedric chuckles.

"Did Alice Bishop just make a joke?" He asks. "Never thought you were the type."

"Oh," Alice says quietly. Cedric catches himself.

"I mean, it's a good thing," Cedric says. "That you make jokes, it's just that I've never heard you make on before and…"

"Cedric, it's fine," Alice smiles. "I admit I don't normally joke around with other people I'm not close with," She says, walking into the arena room. She ties her hair back and picks up her broomstick.

"Good luck on Seeker out there," She says, walking out to the rest of the team.

—

The cheers from the stands were deafening, the best thing Alice could do was focus elsewhere. They got lucky with the weather, it was sunny with only a few clouds in the sky and just a slight breeze. This is the first time Alice had really been out in an actual game, it was exhilarating, to say the least. She secretly hoped that she could play more often after this.

Everyone was obviously a bit suspicious of Alice playing beater. But she quickly changed their opinions. No bludger ever reached it's destination, she even knocked down one of Slytherin's other beaters. Time slowed as the bludger neared her, she scans the field for a target, then her eyes landed on Fletcher, who was playing keeper.

"If I knock him out we can score easy points," Alice mumbles. She swings the bat, watching the bludger head straight for the keeper. Chad's eyes widen and he quickly dodged the bludger, then he watched as a quaffle made its way through one of the hoops. He regained his position and glared at Alice, who simply shrugged. Then the snitch flew right past her, Cedric and Terrance flew right past her, both reaching for the golden prize. Alice noticed the bludger heading towards her and reacted hesitantly, causing the bludger to soar past her, she wobbled on her broomstick, nearly loosing her balance.

The horn sounded throughout the arena, Alice looked around her and spotted Cedric with one hand holding on to his broom and the other grasping the snitch.

"YES!" Alice cheers. She loses her grip on her broomstick, then she found herself falling from forty feet in the air. Cedric pulled himself up on his broom and dashed towards her, grabbing onto her wrist before she fell too far down. She waves shyly at him. He just smiles.

"Are you alright?" She asks. Cedric laughs lightly.

"You're the one who fell off a broomstick, I should be asking you," He says. Alice smiles nervously.

"Oh, well I'm just fine so… We should get down there."

"Yeah, we should," He says, grabbing her broom and handing it to her. Alice mumbles a quick 'thank you.'

"Winner: Hufflepuff!" Madame Hooch announces.

—

"Victory!" Cedric cheered. The Hufflepuff team stood in their common room, cheering loudly for their quidditch victory. It wasn't all the time that they won, after all. Alice stood at a corner in the room, watching the party from the sidelines. She was never much of a social butterfly, she preferred staying quiet. Cedric gestured for her to come over. "And all thanks to our beater!" He smiles. Alice smiled softly and gave a small wave.

"Here's to Alice!" Lewis sang. Cheers filled the room.

"Geez, it wasn't just me, Cap," She says. "Ced's the one who caught the Snitch, you should be toasting to him!"

"We should be toasting to the whole team," Lewis states. "Here's to a good season!"

"To a good season!" The team repeats. Alice sits down on a stool and rests her chin on the palm of her hand. Victory was sweet. Victory against the Slytherins was sweeter. Victory against _him_ was the sweetest.

"Ali I can't believe you almost ruined Fletcher's face!" Liz cries. Alice giggles.

"I can't believe I missed," Alice snarks. "I was so close to destroying your petty crush."

"Aww, Ali, he's just so wonderful!"

"Wonderful looking, horrible keeping," Alice jokes. "All of our quaffles would have made it in if the other players didn't step in."

"At least he's pretty," Liz shrugs. Alice shakes her head.

"Not pretty enough to charm me," She says.

"Of course not, your heart belongs to Diggory," Liz taunts. Alice grows wide eyed.

"Quiet! He'll hear us!" Alice whispers. She looks over to him.

"He's all the way across the room, there's no way he could hear us," Liz reassures. Alice presses her lips together.

"I swear if he finds out, Eliza, I _will_ hex you."

"Aww, but then who will you confide in?"

"I'll find someo-"

"With Cedric?" She taunts.

"Stop!" Alice says, covering her face. "This is so embarrassing."

"It's my goal in life to embarrass you, Ali-dear," Liz laughs.

"Why do I put up with you?"

"Because you love me! Now come on! Let's celebrate!"

"Maybe later," Alice says, digging her hands into her pockets. She feels a scrap of paper inside of it, she couldn't help but smile.

"Alright then," Liz says suspiciously. "I'll see you in a bit!"

Finally, the party calmed down and Alice's housemates retired to their dorms. Alice pulled out the scrap of paper in the pocket of her robes. It said to meet at the Bell Towers later after dark. Alice took a quick peak at the dorms before heading out. She listens closely for any footsteps before proceeding. As she walks through the dark, empty halls, she could only hear the snores of the various paintings surrounding her. Deeming the coast clear, she makes her way to the bell towers. She spots a figure leaning on one of the pillars.

"Well look who's on time for once," Chadwick says lazily. Alice rolls her eyes.

"I just happened to be awake because we were celebrating our quidditch victory," Alice says.

"Speaking of," He says, he flicks her forehead.

"Ouch! What was that for!" She asks, her hands massaging the spot.

"For almost killing me with a bludger today."

"Hey, I needed to defend my team and you just happened to be open," She retaliates.

"Sounds more like pay back for not helping you with that ancient runes quiz," Chad shrugs.

"Is not!"

"I've always been the smarter one, after all," He says proudly. Alice stares at him.

"You're a dunce."

"A dunce with perfect grades," Chad says. Alice puffs her cheeks and pulls out her notes. "You had the full intention of asking for my help, didn't you?"

"Maybe…" She mumbles. " _Lumos_."

"Honestly, Alice, your handwriting is horrible."

"Better than that stupid cursive you insist on writing in."

"At least my cursive is legible."

"It looks plain messy to me," Alice says. "Like Bathsheda's lessons."

"That is true. We'll look at the numbers first."

—

"Alice! Alice wake up!" Liz shouts, shaking Alice awake. She pushes her blankets off and swings her legs over the side.

"Liz? What do you want?"

"Classes are about to start in ten minutes!"

"What?! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?!"

"I just woke up too!"

"Oh geez," Alice sighs, rushing through her routine. She and Chad stayed up later than usual, he went over literally everything they have learned in Ancient Runes last night.

Alice sneaks into her DADA class, taking extra care to be quiet. She sneaks right behind her seat, hoping that Quirrell wouldn't notice. However, he hummed behind his desk.

"Late again, Miss Bishop?" He asks. Alice nods her head shakily.

"Yes, sorry, sir! It won't happen again," She says, taking her seat between the Weasley twins. "Mind if I borrow your notes for a second, Fred?"

"Sure thing, Alice," He says, sliding his notes towards her. Just as Alice was going to take them, he pulls it from under her grasp. "Only if you answer one question."

"What?" She asks. They lean in closer to her.

"What were you and Fletcher doing at the bell towers last night?" The ask in unison. Alice stiffens and shushes them.

"Quiet, you two!" She hisses. "People could be listening…"

"Oh so is it a bad reason?" Fred asks. "What are you two doing that late at night?"

"It's not what you think it is, Fred. I'll tell you guys after class," Alice says. "No use in keeping it a secret from you two."

"If you say so, Ali," Fred says, handing her his notes. He watches her scribble down words onto her own parchment.

As promised, at the end of class, the twins followed Alice until they were somewhere quiet. Alice pushed past many students from different houses until they stood in the courtyard. She looked around before she looked back at the twins, both with dumb, hopeful grins on their faces.

"So out with it, Alice," The twins press.

"Swear that you will tell no one," Alice says in a hushed voice. Both twins raised their right hands and crossed their hearts with their left.

"We solemnly swear," They say.

"Alright, good," Alice says. "Me and Chadwick have been good friends since birth. Our parents were close friends in the muggle world, and after we got sorted into different houses we really couldn't talk to each other anymore, because— well you know, unspoken house rules…"

"Wow," Fred blinks.

"So the two of you have been doing this for three years then?" George asks.

"Precisely! And we've never been caught until you two dunces decided to do whatever it was at the bell tower," Alice frowns. "Not a word out of your mouths about any of this, if it gets out I _will_ become your worst nightmare, mark my words."

"Yes, ma'am!" They say. "Our lips are sealed."

"Good now go somewhere else! People might begin to talk" Alice says, turning on her heel and walking away from the twins. She looks back for a brief moment and sees the two of them looking at each other and giving a slight shrug. She rolls her eyes and continues on to the Grand Hall. She takes her seat by Cedric and pulls out her Ancient Rune's notes, then quickly shoves them back into her robes. Her notes were littered with Chad's cursive writing, anyone would know it's his with just a glance.

"What's that, Ali?" Cedric asks.

"Nothing, just a note to myself," She says. "Says that I should study more Divination."

"Mail's here!" Someone shouts. Alice looks up to see various owls descending to their owners, dropping letters and packages on the table. Alice reached up and grabbed a letter from her owl, Cheshire. Cheshire was a rather small sized Barn Owl, she belonged to her brother, Allistor, who graduated a year before she came in. She opens the letter and reads it to herself.

' _Dearest Alice,_

 _How is your third year? Good, I hope._

 _Every now an then I think about my time in that old place, please tell Professor Flitwick that I said "hello," yeah?_

 _I can't really go into details here, but you'll have to find someplace else to stay for the holidays this year, things have gone out of hand here. Sorry about that, people are scared here and they're not letting anyone in. Perhaps you could stay with Chad? I'll write again when you can come back. Love you, Alice._

 _-Your favorite brother, Allistor Bishop._ '

"Huh, curious," Alice mumbles.

"Is everything alright?" Cedric asks.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Alice says, shaking her head. "We should start heading back to class soon," She says absentmindedly.

"You've barely eaten," Cedric says.

"It's fine, I'm not that hungry. Give it to Liz."

"Oh, alright," Cedric says, watching Alice leave the Grand Hall. Alice hurries through the halls, her mind occupied with the state of her brother.


End file.
